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Monday, March 4, 2013

Kailua Village Business Improvement District Launches Free Smartphone App

Users Can Virtually Traverse – and Learn – About Scenic Byway

Kailua Village Business Improvement District (KVBID) launched a free smartphone application that users can download to learn more about history, significant sites and things to do along Royal Footsteps along the Kona Coast, the state’s second Hawaii Scenic Byway. The Kona Royal Footsteps APP is an interpretive experience that focuses on Alii Drive’s roughly seven miles of roadway with seven centuries of archaeological, historic and cultural traditions and more than two dozen impressive points of interest.

Thanks to efforts by Kailua Village Business Improvement District, the Local Byway Committee, a grant from Hawaii Tourism Authority, and to HTA-funded County of Hawaii County Product Enrichment Program funding, the Kona Royal Footsteps APP shares a tremendous amount of historical information and photos along with ocean recreation, shoreline access, area accommodations and more.

“While we know that visitors to Historic Kailua Village will find the APP extremely helpful when planning and then during their stay, we are also excited about the educational value of the Kona Royal Footsteps APP for residents and particularly for island students,” said KVBID president Eric von Platen Luder. “Volunteers from the Local Byway Committee and KVBID invested hundreds of hours developing APP content that reveals fascinating information about places all along Alii Drive.”

Users that click on Hawaii Royal History in the application may, for example, select to learn more about Significant Sites, Heiau and History & Culture. Discoveries such as where King Kamehameha I perfected his surfing skills are revealed. Care was taken to use and revitalize Hawaiian place names at popular surf spots. Points of Interest are mapped with easy-to-use Google maps.

Downloads for the free application are available in online APP stores by searching “Kona Royal Guide,” or “Kona Royal Footsteps.”